1. Apparatus for producing nonwoven, fleece-like fiber products, said apparatus comprising a transfer belt configured to transport an intermediate product on the underside of the transfer belt to a roller arrangement, characterized in that
the roller arrangement comprises four rollers with rotational axes that are approximately parallel to each other,
of which one first roller is used as a deflection roller for the transfer belt,
of which one second roller is located underneath said first roller and forms therewith a first pair of rollers arranged one above the other,
of which one third roller is located downstream from the second roller, viewed in the running direction of the transfer belt and
of which one fourth roller is located downstream from the first roller, viewed in the running direction of the transfer belt,
wherein the four rollers can be displaced relative to each other transversely to their rotational axis in such a manner that a nip for handling a nonwoven fabric can be selectively set either between the second and the third rollers such that the second and the third rollers form a pair of adjacently arranged rollers and include one nip for substantially vertical fleece transport, or between the third and the fourth roller such that the third roller and the fourth roller positioned above it form a second pair of rollers arranged one above the other and include another nip for substantially horizontal fleece transport.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one nip can be adjusted by slight relative skewing of the rotational axes of respective rollers in a respective roller pair forming the at least one nip.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that a nip formed by the first roller pair arranged one above the other can be changed by adjusting the gap between the rotational axes of the first and second rollers.
4. The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that a nip pressure prevailing in the nip formed by the first roller pair arranged one above the other can be adjusted in a range between 0 and 150 Nmm.
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the one nip formed by the second and third rollers arranged as the pair of rollers adjacent to one other can be adjusted by changing the gap between the rotational axes of the second and third rollers.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, characterized in that the rotational axis of the third roller is transversely displaceable in a plane that is at least approximately horizontal.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the gap between the rotational axis of the fourth roller and the rotational axis of the third roller can be adjusted.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, characterized in that the rotational axis of the fourth roller is transversely displaceable in a plane that is at least approximately vertical.
9. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that at least one of the rollers is configured as a roller with controlled deflection or as a roller with variable cambering or, such that it is possible to change the shape of the nip or the nip pressure profile in the axial direction of the nip between the first roller pair arranged one above the other.
10. The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the third roller is configured as a roller with controlled deflection such that the deflection is selectively possible in a horizontal plane or in a vertical plane.
11. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that either the second roller or the fourth roller or both rollers are embodied as embossing rollers and have an outer surface provided with indentations andor raised portions corresponding to the desired embossing pattern.
12. The apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that one or more of the rollers has an outer mantle made of metal.
13. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the first roller or the third roller or both rollers are embodied as plain rollers with a smooth outer mantle.
14. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the first roller or the third roller or both rollers have a plastic covering that forms the outer mantle.
15. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the second, the third or the fourth roller or a plurality of said rollers have a heatable outer mantle.
16. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a transport belt is positioned downstream from the third roller, viewed in the feed direction of the transfer belt, said transport belt being configured to receive an intermediate product either below a nip formed between the second and the third roller, or downstream from a nip formed between the third and the fourth roller.
17. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a nip formed by the first roller pair arranged one above the other can be changed by adjusting the gap between the rotational axes of the first and second rollers.
18. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a nip pressure prevailing in a nip formed by the first roller pair arranged one above the other can be adjusted in a range between 0 and 150 Nmm.
19. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the rollers is configured as a roller with controlled deflection or as a roller with variable cambering or crowning, such that it is possible to change the shape of the nip or the nip pressure profile in the axial direction of the nip between the first roller pair arranged one above the other.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for producing concrete from drilling byproducts, the method comprising:
mixing the drilling byproducts with a sufficient amount of a dewatering agent to form a waste slurry having a desired saturation percentage;
blending together all of the components of concrete except for the waste slurry to form an intermediate mixture; and
mixing the waste slurry into the intermediate mixture to form a concrete mixture.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the dewatering agent is calcium oxide.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the intermediate mixture consists essentially of cement, a coarse aggregate, and water.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the drilling byproducts consist essentially of drilling cuttings and flow-back.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising grinding the drilling byproducts and the dewatering agent into a fine aggregate while they are being mixed together to form the waste slurry.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired saturation percentage is less than or equal to approximately 90%.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired saturation percentage is small enough to satisfy an applicable jurisdictional regulation for the transportation of solid waste.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the waste slurry in a storage area before it is mixed into the intermediate mixture, wherein the storage area is designed to maintain a saturation percentage of the waste slurry to within \xb110% of the desired saturation percentage.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of storing the waste slurry in a storage area occurs at a same location as the step of mixing the drilling byproducts with a sufficient amount of the dewatering agent to form the waste slurry.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of storing the waste slurry in a storage area occurs at a same location as the blending step.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising pouring the concrete mixture to form a concrete structure.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the pouring step occurs at a permanent location for the concrete structure.
13. A method for producing concrete, the method comprising:
blending together cement, a coarse aggregate, and water to form an intermediate mixture; and
mixing drilling byproducts into the intermediate mixture to form a concrete mixture.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising grinding the drilling byproducts into a fine aggregate prior to the step of mixing the drilling byproducts into the intermediate mixture.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising mixing the drilling byproducts with a dewatering agent to form a waste slurry prior to the step of mixing the drilling byproducts into the intermediate mixture.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising mixing the drilling byproducts with a sufficient amount of the dewatering agent to form the waste slurry with a desired saturation percentage.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the desired saturation percentage is less than or equal to approximately 90%.
18. The method of claim 14, wherein the dewatering agent is calcium oxide.
19. A method of using drilling byproducts to form a concrete drilling pad, the method comprising:
making a concrete mixture from drilling byproducts that are collected from a first drilling site; and
using the concrete mixture to form a concrete drilling pad at a second drilling site.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of making the concrete mixture further comprises:
mixing the drilling byproducts with a dewatering agent to form a waste slurry; and
storing the waste slurry in a storage area before it is mixed into the concrete mixture.